


impossible dreams

by Soulykins



Series: Tumblr prompts [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Dave's birthday is June 26th for plot reasons, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Klaus and Dave having a conversation, Klaus revealing future knowledge, M/M, discussion of marriage, gay marriage legalization, it isn't really discussed but he shows up as a ghost at the end so, like he dies, so i need to tag for major character death for Dave??, soft, that's a thing, then some sad at the end kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 09:41:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18601951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soulykins/pseuds/Soulykins
Summary: The jungle is hot and humid, but it’s beautiful as well in so many small ways. The canopy was thick above their heads, but when there was a gap the stars were the clearest that Klaus had ever seen.He lay back, with his jacket pillowed beneath his head, staring up at the stars. Luther was the one who had always been interested in constellations, not him. They just looked random to him, but no less beautiful.A hand crept into his own, strong fingers and calluses as familiar as Klaus’s own as it was accompanied by a voice rough with sleep. “Still awake?” Dave whispered, even though he was fully aware that the rest of the guys slept like logs.---a conversation about the future between Klaus and Dave in the middle of Vietnam





	impossible dreams

**Author's Note:**

> UHHHH does this count as a tumblr prompt? i'm counting it  
> finally getting around to crossposting this from my tumblr onto ao3 for archive reasons
> 
> original post here: https://gentlemenpaws.tumblr.com/post/184329044751/so-you-just-gonna-snatch-my-heart-with-that

The jungle is hot and humid, but it’s beautiful as well in so many small ways. The canopy was thick above their heads, but when there was a gap the stars were the clearest that Klaus had ever seen.

He lay back, with his jacket pillowed beneath his head, staring up at the stars. Luther was the one who had always been interested in constellations, not him. They just looked random to him, but no less beautiful.

A hand crept into his own, strong fingers and calluses as familiar as Klaus’s own as it was accompanied by a voice rough with sleep. “Still awake?” Dave whispered, even though he was fully aware that the rest of the guys slept like logs.

Klaus couldn’t help but turn his head with a smile on his face, something soft and gentle and that should have been out of place in the middle of a war but was one of the only things that felt right. Dave blinked back at him, stubble on his face and a smear of dirt across his cheek that he hadn’t bothered to wash off before he’d crashed. Klaus couldn’t help but think that he was _beautiful._

“Just thinking.” Klaus whispered back, enjoying the way that Dave’s nose scrunched as the other processed Klaus’s words. He wanted to lean over and drop a kiss on that nose, but the stillness of the night kept him where he was.

“Thinking ‘bout what?” Dave asked around a yawn, and Klaus had to stop looking before he acted on the urge to sweep Dave into his arms and make him laugh loud enough to wake everyone. He directed his eyes up again to the stars, thoughts on the black briefcase that lay somewhere a few feet from his own feet. The briefcase he told himself less and less these days he was going to use to get home.

(The thought barely crossed his mine these days, too full with thoughts of Dave Dave _Dave_.)

“The future.” Klaus admitted, honest to a fault. 

Dave squeezed Klaus’s hand, the one he still had in his grip. Klaus could hear the smile in Dave’s words, “Oh? What a coincidence. Me, too.”

Klaus looked over and quirked an eyebrow, seeing the playful glint in Dave’s eyes and always willing to be distracted from melancholy thoughts. “Well you can’t just say that and not elaborate, Dave. Do tell.”

Dave shifted, rolling over and propping himself up on his elbow - his hand never left Klaus’s. “I had a dream about us - ” Dave paused at Klaus’s suggestive eyebrow raised and squeezed Klaus’s hand, rolling his eye, “Mind out of the gutter, K. You remember that diner I told you about? The one back home, with the pancakes?”

Klaus shuffled just a tiny bit closer, his good humor making his eyes twinkle. “I do, yes.”

“We were there, stuffing our faces and laughing. You told this god awful joke, I don’t even remember what it was. Probably purposefully erased it from my mind on purpose.” Klaus scoffed, mock-offended, but Dave was still smiling, “You were laughing and you had whipped cream right in the corner of your mouth, and I kissed it away without a thought in the world except for that you were _beautiful._ ” Dave paused a beat, “Fuck, K. I wish the world was like that. But one day, I’m gonna take you to that diner, I promise. Get my fella some of the best pancakes in the world.”

The thought that any pancakes would be the best in the world as long as they were had with Dave danced across Klaus’s tongue, but that was too cheesy for even him to say. 

“You know,” Klaus said, tearing his eyes away from Dave’s face, “One day, people aren’t going to care. One day, we’ll kiss in public and no one’ll even notice.”

Dave smiled again, but it was a sad little one. “We can dream, right?”

“No,” Klaus denied, suddenly fierce and actually surprising himself, “No, one day, it’s going to be amazing, promise. Gay marriage is going to be legalized, we’ll be able to wear whatever the fuck we want, and yeah there will still be the occasional assholes but we’ll be able to be ourselves. We’ll be able to be ourselves, _together._ ”

Dave laughed, soft and sweet, “I wish I had your confidence, sweetheart.”

“2015.” Klaus said, “They’re gonna legalize gay marriage on June 26th, 2015.”

“My birthday?” Dave asked, surprised, and Klaus was as well. Days seemed to blur together out here, and Dave must have had a birthday at some point but birthdays were just like any other day out here. Something inside Klaus went soft as he marked down the day in his memory for a brand new reason. 

He nodded, rolling over and reaching out with the hand not still caught in Dave’s fingers to cup Dave’s cheek gently, “Yeah, June 26th, 2015. You an’ me. Let’s get married.”

Dave’s hand came up to rest against Klaus’s, sandwiching it between the warmth of his cheek and palm. “Married? Fuck, Klaus. I love the way you see the future.” He turned his head to press a kiss against Klaus’s palm.

“Is that a yes?” Klaus asked, voice almost breaking and eyes searching Dave’s face.

He got a surprised little laugh for his troubles, Dave letting go of his hand to reach out and cup Klaus’s face in return, “You know what? Yeah. June 26th, 2015. It’s a date, huh? Our future, together.”

Klaus couldn’t help it, he really couldn’t. He surged forward to kiss Dave, Dave laughing into the kiss in such a Dave sort of way as he brought his hands up to cradle Klaus’s head, carding callused fingers through Klaus’s hair in the way he knew Klaus loved.

They were interrupted by a boot thudding against the ground near them, and they pulled apart breathlessly.

“Go the fuck to sleep,” Someone grumbled.

“Sorry Jimmy,” Klaus called out, not even bothering to sound apologetic. Dave was muffling his laughter with a hand, the grin on his face making laugh lines around the corners of his eyes that Klaus wanted to trace with his fingers.

They both settled back against the jungle floor, hands still entwined together.

All was quiet until Jimmy spoke up again, still grumbling, “An’ I better be invited to the wedding. Best man for all the lovey dovey shit we put up with.”

Dave snorted, “Yeah, as if. If anyone gets to be best man it’s Reg. Or if we’re going by putting up, gotta be Don.” 

Oh, poor Don might have walked in on Dave and Klaus on a more… intimate moment of theirs. Klaus couldn’t help the giggle, cheeks almost hurting from the smile on his face. Dave squeezed his hand, sharing in the joke.

“Aw, just go to sleep.” Jimmy shot back, a shuffling noise indicating he was rolling over, “An’ toss me back my boot.”

Dave was already rolling his eyes and reaching over to grab the boot, but Klaus was too distracted to concentrate on that. All he could think about was the warm hand in his, the light feeling in his chest, the tingling on his lips of a recent kiss.

Klaus Katz had a certain sort of ring to it, right?

 

_(Klaus clutches the dog tags in his hand hard enough that his knuckles are white, tears spilling from his eyes as he chokes on his own sobs. The sun shines bright through the window, and it’s a beautiful day. Starkly contrasted with Klaus’s own black mood._

_If he presses hard enough, maybe Dave’s name will be imprinted across his palm just like he’s imprinted on Klaus’s heart._

_His hand tingles with a remembered touch._

_“Hey now,” A warm and achingly kind voice murmurs, sitting next to him. The bed doesn’t move at all with the added weight of a person. It wouldn’t, ghosts don’t weigh anything at all. “Hey K, what’s with the tears?”_

_Klaus brings up a hand to scrub at his face, only smearing the tears across his cheek rather than actually doing anything. “We missed it,” Klaus sobs, “We didn’t make it.”_

_“Yes we did.” Dave corrects, smile soft and every bit as beautiful as it had been on his face that night under the jungle stars. “Look at the world. Look at the celebrations of every form of love, look at the people who aren’t afraid to be themselves. We’re in the future now, Klaus. And it’s every bit as wonderful as you said it would be.”_

_“But we never, we didn’t - it’s 2019, Dave.” Klaus figures that’s all he needs to say, to point out exactly what date they missed._

_“June 26th, 2019.” Dave’s eyes twinkled, holding out his hand. With only a second of hesitation, Klaus put his hand in Dave’s. It’s not quite the same as touching a living person, even when he’s solid enough to feel. But it’s still Dave, still the same rough, callused hands underneath his._

_Klaus sniffs, “Your birthday.”_

_Dave draws Klaus’s hand up to eye level, eyes twinkling as he presses feather-light kisses against Klaus’s finger. “My birthday, with my favorite gift of all.” He draws Klaus’s hand closer, pressing a tender kiss in the middle of the ‘hello’ tattoo on the palm, “Happy anniversary, Klaus.”)_

**Author's Note:**

> i hope this came across how i wanted it too oof i'm aroace i don't write romance really,,,,, but i gave it a shot !! and all i can really so is try so there
> 
> but Dave and Klaus are good and i love and appreciate them
> 
> honestly the end was going to be so much sadder and not have a ghost Dave but i couldn't do that to my boy so here we are


End file.
